Out Of Season

The winding down of the 1988-89 TV season marks not only the end of the `80s chronologically, but it also represents the end of an era of people, programs and genres that dominated the decade.

When ABC, CBS and NBC unveil their 1989-90 schedules next month, there will be some momentous absentees.

Family Ties, one of the first of NBC`s ``quality`` programs and the launching pad that rocketed Michael J. Fox to superstardom on both the small and large screens, is retiring voluntarily after a seven-year run.

Miami Vice, which led to Paradise Lost being rediscovered and established a transcontinental fashion look, is going to a Nielsen pauper`s grave after five years, a victim of the cruel fickleness of the in crowd.

Moonlighting, perhaps the most mismanaged program in the history of television, finally wore out the patience of its audience. The final nail in the coffin was a spring shift to Sunday night, after another sudden hiatus brought about by the inability to meet production deadlines. Despite playing on the most viewer rich evening, Moonlighting was finishing among Nielsen`s weekly bottom 10 network programs.

Dynasty, which for a time in the middle of the decade was TV`s highest-rated program, figures to become the first of the enduring prime-time soap operas to reach the end of the line.

Even if Dynasty is granted a reprieve, it`s clear the evening serial genre has gone into eclipse. A soap opera topped the annual Nielsen rankings four times in the `80s. This past season, none were able to crack the top 20.

CBS plans to bring back its three evening serials -- Dallas, Knots Landing and Falcon Crest -- but this is primarily a case of CBS having more pressing problems.

Dallas, TV`s No. 1 program three times in the `80s, has been scraping to stay within Nielsen`s top 30 this season, and has been supplanted as CBS` No. 1 soap by Knots Landing. Falcon Crest is no longer a top 50 show.

Dominant individuals in front of and behind the cameras also went into eclipse this season. Bill Cosby`s Thursday night sitcom, the propellant of NBC`s ascension from near oblivion to the top of the Nielsen ratings, held onto its No. 1 rating for the season, but was beaten several times by ABC`s Roseanne during the final two months of the season.

This traditionally ominous development portends a new No. 1 next year. Ironically, ABC was ridiculed unmercifully within the industry for turning down Cosby when it had first crack at the show five years ago. Last spring, the Cosby production team pitched Roseanne to NBC, and entertainment boss Brandon Tartikoff passed, allowing the comedy to slip away to ABC.

The most dramatic reversal of the year, however, was suffered by Grant Tinker, who was practically canonized for his role in the resurrection of NBC.

Tinker resigned his position as NBC chief executive two years ago in the wake of General Electric`s purchase of the network. The founder and former head of MTM, TV`s most revered production house, said he wanted to return to independent production. Last year, he formed a new company, GTG, in partnership with Gannett, which among other things publishes USA Today.

Tinker`s new studio introduced three series on CBS, rolled out USA Today: The TV Show in syndication, and had a commitment for another series on ABC.

The three CBS programs -- Raising Miranda, Van Dyke and TV 101 -- were scorned by critics and viewers. Until a few spring tryout series bombed horribly, all three GTG series ranked among the 10 least-watched Nielsen programs of the season. And the proposed ABC series never made it to the air.

Meanwhile, USA Today: The TV Show has been a resounding failure aesthetically and in the ratings. Steve Friedman, who left Today to become the first executive producer, quickly departed as the show foundered. He was replaced by Jim Bellows, the producer credited with turning around Entertainment Tonight in its early troubled days. Bellows stuck around USA Today only a couple of months before bailing out, too.

As the program struggled, outlets in key markets -- including New York, the nation`s largest, and Miami-Fort Lauderdale -- relegated USA Today to the post-midnight ghetto. In other markets, it was dumped entirely.

At the time of his latest career change, Tinker joked that he was working on winning his second Career Achievement Award from the Television Critics Association. After his performance this season, it would be almost fitting if he gave the first one back.

The following is a night-by-night look at what might and might not be back next season.

SUNDAY

The departure of Family Ties probably will be the catalyst for an all-new hour on NBC between Disney and the Sunday movie. Day by Day hasn`t been able to attract a passable audience with the benefit of Family Ties` lead-in audience. Thus it is unlikely NBC would risk bringing it back on its own in the crucial half-hour before the Sunday movie.